24/05/2012

If you were
alive in the 80s, you almost certainly have a Jean Michel Jarre album
lying around your house. Lately, Jean Michel Jarre has turned his
musical hands to another domestic certainty: the iPod dock.
Of course this being Jean Michel Jarre, things have to be a little
different. How about 3.3 metres tall and 400kg different, along with a
purported price of £350,000?

Described by the
Jarre Technologies press release as "half machine, half work of art",
the massive iPod dock was shown off on the Jarre stand at IFA in Berlin,
so we moseyed on over to take a look.
Essentially it’s a huge version of AeroSystem One, Jarre’s £700
pillared iPod dock, but is so tall that you need a ladder to dock your
iDevice.

Jarre said:
"AeroSystem One is the result of my thinking and technical research
and AeroDream One, launched here, its most elevated - literally - and
amazing manifestation so far. It’s fantastic, but it’s no fantasy."
Okay, so it is described as a prototype, but the details also tell us
that it packs in HD multi-directional sound. Unfortunately the stand
was ghostly quiet when we arrived, with no sign of a single laser anywhere.

Slightly out of
the limelight on the Jarre stand were the AeroPads One and Two, a pair
of docks designed for the iPad (but also supporting iPhone and iPod).
AeroPad One will set you back €499 whilst the larger AeroPad Two is
an impressive €699. Both will be available from February 2012,
pre-orders open now on Jarre Technologies’ website.

Jean Michel Jarre

Perhaps it was his early exposure to street performers and jazz
musicians. Maybe it was his work with Musique Concrète pioneer Pierre
Schaeffer and visual artist Pierre Soulages, or his time with Karlheinz
Stockhausen in Cologne. Most likely, it was an amalgam of all of these
influences that molded Jean Michel Jarre into the remarkably-innovative
composer and showman he is today.
A pioneer himself in the Electronic, Synth Pop, Ambient and New Age
genres, Jarre was the first composer to bring electronic music into the
Paris Opera House with his opera, AOR. His first 2 albums were recorded
in a makeshift studio in his kitchen with two EMS synthesizers and a
pair of linked Revox tape machines. For his next album, Oxygène, he
added a Mellotron, an ARP2600, and a few others, and it went on to sell
an estimated 12 million copies.

In an unparalleled fashion, Jean Michel creates huge outdoor
spectacles that feature his music at the center of stunning light shows,
laser displays, and fireworks. Holding the world record for the
largest-ever audience at an outdoor event, Jarre has brought new meaning
to the term, "sold-out!" From the Eiffel Tower and the Great Pyramids
to extravaganzas in the Forbidden City and Tian’Anmen Square, Jarre's
concerts draw live audiences of as many as 3.5 million. Over 2 BILLION
followed his concerts in China on live TV.

Jarre has worked with Arthur C. Clarke, Laurie Anderson, Adrian Belew
and fellow Spectrasonics artist, Marcus Miller. He provided original
underscore for Jean Chapot’s "Les Granges Brûlées," Mel Gibson's debut,
"Gallipoli," and the Kim Basinger's "Nine and a Half Weeks," along with
the sound design for Match Télévision and Bang & Olufsen's Concept
Store on the Champs-Elysées.
Apart from his musical activities, Jean Michel has led the lobby for
Internet copyright legislation before the EU Parliament and is an
Ambassador for UNESCO.

JMJ holds a Grammy for Instrumental Album of the Year and the
prestigious “Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur” from the French
government. He has sold an estimated 80 million albums and singles.

To #CelebrateBob on what would have been his his 78th birthday, Moog
Music commissioned a larger-than-life mural of Dr. Moog for their
factory in Asheville, NC. The mural was created by local Asheville
artist, Dustin Spagnola. HAPPY BIRTHDAY BOB! Love, your family at Moog.

Dustin
Spagnola is a contemporary visual artist who has shown and created work
in NYC, Miami, New Orleans, Richmond, Atlanta, Washington, DC and in
his home, Asheville, NC. His work is often political in nature and
eschews corporate advertising and graffiti culture alike.

For all of you who were sleeping at midnight, you're up
for a sonically delicious morning treat. Google has posted an
interactive Moog Doodle in honor of Bob's 78th Birthday. You can play it
and record your composition! Check it out and get creative! http://www.google.com/

In the mid-1960s, Dr. Robert Moog unleashed a new universe of
sounds into musicdom with his invention of the electronic analog Moog
Synthesizer. The timbre and tones of these keyboard instruments (true
works of art in and of themselves) would come to define a generation of
music, featuring heavily in songs by The Beatles, The Doors, Stevie
Wonder, Kraftwerk and many others.

When people hear the word "synthesizer" they often think
"synthetic"—fake, manufactured, unnatural. In contrast, Bob Moog's
synthesizers produce beautiful, organic and rich sounds that are, nearly
50 years later, regarded by many professional musicians as the epitome
of an electronic instrument. "Synthesizer," it turns out, refers to the
synthesis embedded in Moog's instruments: a network of electronic
components working together to create a whole greater than the sum of
the parts.

With his passion for high-tech toolmaking in the service of
creativity, Bob Moog is something of a patron saint of the nerdy arts
and a hero to many of us here. So for the next 24 hours on our homepage,
you'll find an interactive, playable logo inspired by the instruments
with which Moog brought musical performance into the electronic age. You
can use your mouse or computer keyboard to control the
mini-synthesizer's keys and knobs to make nearly limitless sounds.
Keeping with the theme of 1960s music technology, we've patched the
keyboard into a 4-track tape recorder so you can record, play back and
share songs via short links or Google+.

Much like the musical machines Bob Moog created, this
doodle was synthesized from a number of smaller components to form a
unique instrument. When experienced with Google Chrome, sound is
generated natively using the Web Audio API—a doodle first (for other
browsers the Flash plugin is used). This doodle also takes advantage of
JavaScript, Closure libraries, CSS3 and tools like Google Web Fonts, the
Google+ API, the Google URL Shortener and App Engine.

Special thanks to engineers Reinaldo Aguiar and Rui Lopes and
doodle team lead Ryan Germick for their work, as well as the Bob Moog
Foundation and Moog Music for their blessing. Now give those knobs a
spin and compose a tune that would make Dr. Moog smile!

Gammatek introduces the new AeroSystem One by Jarre Technologies

Johannesburg, South Africa. September 2011 – Gammatek, leading
distributor of Branded Technology Accessories in Southern Africa, has
launched the extraordinary AeroSystem One, a revolutionary acoustic
speaker system by Jarre Technologies.

“The AeroSystem One is the result of four years of research and
development by Jean Michel Jarre and his team of sound engineers and
finally they’ve designed a speaker system that appeals both to design
and music lovers,” comments Zev Cherniak of Gammatek.

The AeroSystem One incorporates an electronic signal circuit, tailor
made to reproduce both the bass line and high notes with optimal
precision in all numeric formats and is compatible with all iPod and
iPhone models. It comes with an integrated USB 2.0 port as well as a
mini-jack port offering the possibility to connect the system to a
laptob, a CD/DVD player or any other smartphones and MP3 players.

The AeroSystem One also delivers a precise and enveloping sound due to
its powerful box beam and two directional speakers. The system is
controlled by a translucent frosted remote control which is a design
object in itself and allows music lovers to pilot their AeroSystem One
from afar via their iPod or iPhone.

“This is truly a magnificent system which is ideal for music lovers
looking for a stunning and very modern, designer feature in their
homes,” concludes Cherniak.

Retail Values

The Jarre AeroSystem One is available at select consumer retail and
music stores nationwide and retails for approximately R7999.
About Gammatek:

Gammatek was established in South Africa in 1999 and strives to be the
leading distributor of Branded Technology Accessories in Southern
Africa. The company distributes products that offer an added value
proposition in terms of brand value and range and is currently the sole
distributors of Nitho, Swiss Charger, Gizmobies, Golla, Jabra, Idapt,
Route 66, Speck, Bagmovil, Ridata, Movon, Trik, Fellowes, iFrogz,
Plantronics, Imagenation, Ed Hardy and Jarre Technologies, Ozaki and
Body Glove. Gammatek prides itself on timeously offering the latest
accessories for all popular consumer electronic devices.

Gammatek was recently announced supplier of the year, for Vodacom 2010
and has won the Vodacom 4U supplier Excellence Award for the past five
years.

Lyrics English: "The blue words"

It is six o'clock at the church's bell-tower
At the park the flowers poetize
A girl will leave the town hall
As each evening I await for her
She smiles at me
It's necessary that I speak to her
At all costs

I will tell her the blue words
The words we say with the eyes
To speak seems ridiculous to me
I throw myself and then I move back
In front of an useless sentence
Who would break the fragile moment
Of an encounter
Of an encounter

I will tell her the blue words
Those which make people happy
I will call her without naming her
I am perhaps out of fashion
The wind of winter blows in April
I love the motionless silence
Of an encounter
Of an encounter

There is no more clock, no more bell-tower
In the park the trees are lying
I return by the night train
Over the dock I see her
Who smiles at me
It's necessary that she understand
At all costs

I will tell her the blue words
The words we say with the eyes
All the excuses that we give
Are like the kisses that we steal
It remains a subtle rancor
Who would waste the fragile moment
Of our re-encounter
Of our re-encounter

I will tell her the blue words
Those which make people happy
A love story without words
Have no need for protocol
And all futile long discourses
Would somewhat tarnish the little style
Of our re-encounter
Of our re-encounter

I will tell her the blue words
Those which make people happy
I will tell her all the blue words
All those which make people happy
All the blue words

Lyrics:
Gloria
Lonely boy
For your last night
say goodbye
Gloria
never never forget
you're the star
Gloria
remember
all the splendors
of yesterday
Gloria
Oh, lonely boy
Gloria
one more time
sing for me
Gloria

Métamorphoses
is an album by Jean Michel Jarre, released on Sony Music in 2000. It
was released in the US on Disques Dreyfus in 2004. It is his tenth
overall studio album.

This album was, to fans, a surprising break
from his previous works, as it makes extensive use of vocal elements,
as well as house and techno sounds. The vocal elements are not short,
sampled pieces as highlighted in his album Zoolook, but longer, more
integral parts of the work, and thus quite surprising for an artist
known for his instrumental works. Métamorphoses is also Jarre's first
album to contain actual songs with lyrics. Jarre's own voice is heard
through a vocoder on many of the songs, but the album contains several
other singers as well, mostly female singers. "Rendez-Vous à Paris"
features Sharon Corr on violin. "Rendez-Vous à Paris" and "Bells" are
the only largely instrumental tracks on the album; on the former only
the track title is repeated in rhythm, the latter does not have
intelligible lyrics. Although the album was generally not badly received
by critics, and despite the collaborations and a number of single
releases, Jarre did not achieve great mainstream success with this
album.

Electronic music pioneer Jean-Michel Jarre will deliver a
keynote at the World Copyright Summit on Wednesday June 8 in Brussels.
In this keynote discussion, the French artist will offer his views on
the challenges faced by creators in the digital age.

Why did you accept CISAC’s invitation to take part in the 2011 World Copyright Summit?

Jean-Michel Jarre: For an artist like me, who has
always been looking for new boundaries, the digital world has been a
source of constant experimentation. It has provided me with the tools to
create my music and also the structure for the concert performances.
But for the author and the composer that I also am, it can be a source
of great concern. If my works have the potential to be seen and listened
to by an even greater audience than before, the problem we face as
creators is the way that we are compensated for the use of our works. By
being present at the World Copyright Summit, I want to show my
enthusiasm and my optimism regarding the challenges we face with the new
digital world; and also bear witness of the necessity to respect the
rights of creators as a necessary condition for the renewal and
financing of creation.

What are the main challenges facing creators in the new digital eco-system?

Jean-Michel Jarre: I would say that the biggest
challenge is finding the right balance between the ubiquity of the
availability of creative works and the respect of creators’ rights, hand
in hand with compensation. I do not have ready-made answers. I want my
music to travel as widely as possible. I also want to make sure that my
music, alongside that of my peers, is not used to enrich venture capital
firms who are backing digital services that have business models based
on the premises that they do not pay for the content that they are
using. In my view, and in the view of many creators, this is unfair. I
also think that the system has been far too lenient towards access
providers who have been selling broadband subscriptions based on the
promise that the end user would have access to all the music in the
world. I think it is about time they chip in and give back to the people
who have allowed them to make their subscriptions attractive.

Q: What would be, according to you, the role of collective management organisations in this new eco-system?

Jean-Michel Jarre: In case you have not noticed,
this digital world has become increasingly complex, with hundreds of new
players who, when they are properly licensed, pay authors’ societies
very small amounts from millions of transactions. I am surprised by the
rather small amounts I get paid in return for extensive plays on these
new services and furthermore that I value the excellent service offered
to me by Sacem. I would never be able to chase these rights if I were on
my own, I couldn’t control the use of my music on radio or TV. I
recently played concerts in Australia and I have to rely on the local
society there to collect on my behalf the rights I am owed for the use
of my music in the country. I need authors’ societies to act on my
behalf, and now more than ever before. And I can affirm that my author’s
society constitutes the best guarantee for my economic independence and
my freedom of creation.

IPTC Caption
Michel Barnier, Commissioner for Internal Market and Services,
European Commission
Jean-Michel Jarre, author, composer and performer (France). The World
Copyright Summit 2011 in Brussels is an international and cross-industry
event addressing the future of the creative community and the
entertainment business in the digital economy.
All stakeholders involved in creative industries creation, licensing,
usage, collective management, legislation and dissemination of
intellectual property and creative content now have a unique forum to
exchange views on the value of creative works, the future of authors
rights, the role of creators and their collective management
organisations.A two-day conference programme addressing key themes:
Create-Connect-Respect.

The total number of page views

Jean Michel Jarre first came to international fame with his number one hit album, « OXYGENE » which went on to sell over 18 million copies worldwide.

A pioneer in his field, Jarre has largely contributed to the fastest growing musical revolution of the 20th century, electronic music : conceiving music in terms of sounds rather than only in terms of notes, and thus allowing the composer to become his own craftsman.

Having followed formal studies of harmony and counterpoint at the Conservatoire de Paris, he was inspired to reinvent music at its core, with his own singular vision, deploying the technology and tools of his epoch.

This pioneering approach gave birth to worldwide hit albums such as "OXYGENE","EQUINOXE", MAGNETIC FIELDS", "ZOOLOOK", "RENDEZVOUS", "WAITING FOR COUSTEAU"...over 80 million albums sold to date.

Following through with his revolution in music, he also conceived a brand-new genre and format of concerts; breaking away from the traditional theatre and arena context, Jarre brought his music and vision outdoors to the masses. Often free and open-to-all, these stateof- the-art concert-spectaculars showcase the natural or urban environment in which they are performed -- a truly singular sonic and visual "land-art" event, conceived and performed on a unique scale for a one-off experience.

Jarre's legendary concerts have attracted Guinness Record-breaking audiences across the planet. They take place in exceptional settings, marking extra-ordinary contexts: first western musician invited to perform in post-Mao Red China, Millennium at the Great Pyramids of Egypt, Houston City concert in collaboration with NASA in memory of the Challenger space crew, Concert for His Holiness Pope John Paul II, France's Eiffel Tower in celebration of World Cup victory, Gdansk's shipyard at the initiative of Nobel Peace Laureate Lech Walesa, London's Docklands, Beijing's Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square, the Sahara Desert...to the absolute record live audience of 3.5 million in Moscow.

Most recently, Jean Michel Jarre embarked on his first ever world tour which has already taken him to over 30 countries with over 220 performances.

July 2011, HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco called upon Jean Michel Jarre to celebrate his Royal Wedding by creating and performing a concert-event in the Principality which was largely broadcast on television & Internet worldwide to an estimated audience of 3 billion.

The French musician has a dedicated ongoing engagement to the United Nations via UNESCO, as Ambassador and spokesperson for Environment and Education.